


August 3rd

by MariaClaire



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Back at camp, Campfire, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25699120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariaClaire/pseuds/MariaClaire
Summary: Two days after the battle with Gaea is over, Percy adjusts to being home.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 155





	August 3rd

**August 3rd**

Two days after they got back from Greece, and two days after the war with Gaea and the giants was finally over, Percy slept in until noon. It wasn't even intentional—he just didn't set an alarm. When he finally woke up, he was groggy and disoriented. For a few seconds, he didn't know where he was. He'd gotten used to his cabin on the Argo II. But then, after blinking a couple times and realizing he was in his bunk at Cabin Three, Percy rolled onto his back and stretched, a grin spreading across his face. _Home._

He had rolled out of bed and was in the process of pulling on a t-shirt when Tyson came out of the shower, exclaimed, "Brother!" and charged at him. Percy didn't even have time to brace himself, so Tyson's hug hit him like a freight train. Not that he minded too much. Everything had been so hectic since the battle they hadn't had much time to hang out. Percy would have appreciated the enthusiastic greeting more, though, if his brother had been dressed in something other than just a towel.

"Thanks, big guy," Percy patted his arm. "But, um, maybe you could put some more clothes on?"

Tyson turned beet red. "Oh. Yes."

A few minutes later, he came back out of the bathroom fully dressed and gave Percy another rib-cracking hug. "I am glad you are not killed dead."

"Me too."

On his way to the dining pavilion, Percy passed the Stolls. Or, technically, _they_ passed _him_ , since they were both sprinting across the lawn between the cabins. But they paused long enough for Connor to high-five Percy and Travis to slap him on the shoulder, before they continued running away from several very annoyed Romans shouting about stolen helmets. As he crossed the green between the cabins, other campers called out greetings. Katie Gardner waved to him from the garden near Cabin Four, and Malcolm Pace gave him a fist-bump, then a punch in the arm when they passed. When Percy grumbled and rubbed his arm, Malcolm just said cheerfully, "That's for making Annabeth worry."

"Fair enough."

When he reached the dining pavilion, it was only about half full. It looked like lunch was mostly already over. But Jason was still sitting at the Zeus table, bleary-eyed and tousle-haired, as if he, too, had just woken up. Percy clapped him on the shoulder as he walked past. "Hey, man. You doing okay?"

"Yeah." Jason pushed his glasses up his nose. "You sleep in too?"

"Guess so." Percy yawned. "Where is everybody?"

"Frank and Hazel are showing Chiron around the Roman camp." Jason took a swig of orange juice. "Piper and Annabeth are organizing stuff with Reyna. And apparently they all realized they didn't need us right now, since they let us sleep in."

"No complaints here," Percy said.

He piled up his plate with food, burned his usual offering to Poseidon with some genuinely grateful thoughts about being home, then sat back down at the Poseidon table, across from the Zeus table where Jason looked only about half awake as he cut up his waffles. If Percy had to guess, he'd say Jason didn't want to admit it, but summoning the winds and holding them together the way he had in order to propel Gaea into the air had to have drained him. The poor guy probably deserved to sleep in.

While Percy was eating, campers kept coming up and patting him on the back. Some of the older campers, the ones who'd been around a while, even ruffled his hair. All of them said something along the lines of "Glad you're back, Jackson."

Except, of course, Clarisse.

Percy almost choked on his bacon when she came up from behind and dragged him off the bench in a headlock. "Ow! What the—"

"You've got a lot of nerve, punk," Clarisse growled. "Putting your girlfriend through hell like that."

Percy stopped struggling as a cold feeling trickled through his body. "I—what?"

"Disappearing for six freaking months." Clarisse tightened her grip. "She might not be my best friend, but none of us wanted to see Miss Princess all upset."

"You know it wasn't exactly my choice," Percy grunted, having no luck trying to unlock her arms from around his neck, although the cold feeling had faded somewhat once he'd realized what Clarisse was actually talking about.

"Doesn't matter." She finally released him and shoved him away. While Percy rubbed his neck and glared at her, Clarisse poked him in the chest. "She won't say this, so I will. You'd better make it up to her."

Jason, eyes on his food, said, "I kind of think he already did." Then he gave a very unconvincing cough that sounded like _Rome_ , and Percy wondered if he was maybe channeling Leo.

Clarisse crossed her arms. "Oh we all heard about that. Stoll wouldn't shut up about that napkin he pulled out of the fire. But that's not what I'm talking about and Jackson knows it."

Percy put his hands up. "Yeah, I do. I hear you, Clarisse. Okay?"

"Good." Clarisse looked satisfied. "Just watch yourself, punk."

Percy nodded, but as she walked away, he added, "I missed you, too, Clarisse."

She sent him a very rude, one finger hand gesture, but Percy grinned. When Jason raised his eyebrows, he just shrugged and said, "Good to be home."

* * *

Percy spent part of the afternoon wandering around camp, checking to see if anyone needed help and jumping in on some of the clean-up, restoration, and inter-camp mingling, which seemed to be going well. Although something about seeing Frank and Hazel walking around with Chiron gave Percy a strange sense of vertigo, like his worlds were colliding.

Someone actually collided with him when Grover came out of nowhere to give him another flying tackle hug. They'd met up after the battle on August 1st, but there had been so much going on, they'd barely had time to talk. They still didn't have time now, as Grover was still deep in the middle of Lord of the Wild duties, putting nature back in order post-Gaea. But it was nice just to say hey.

He checked in on Blackjack, too, who still sounded a bit wheezy, but was recovering pretty well in the stables. After a quick chat, Percy promised to come back again, with doughnuts, at Blackjack's insistence.

Finally, around midafternoon, he tracked down his girlfriend. She was deep in conversation with Piper and Reyna, looking over some notes. Percy stood off to the side, not wanting to interrupt. Finally, though, Piper noticed him and nudged Annabeth. "Hey, I think somebody's looking for you."

When Annabeth looked up and smiled at him, Percy felt like the sunny day just got brighter. To Piper and Reyna, she said, "If you guys want to go ahead and check on those supplies, I'll catch up with you in a minute." After they left, she walked over to Percy. "Hi."

"Hey." He leaned down to kiss her cheek. "How's it going?"

"Busy." She sighed. "There's a lot to do trying to coordinate both camps and make sure nobody kills each other."

"Yeah, I saw the Stolls earlier being chased by some Romans."

"Oh I already dealt with that. They gave the helmets back, but won't tell anybody where they hid the pila." Annabeth shook her head. "Anyway, how's your day going?"

Percy shrugged. "Pretty chill. Slept in, got tackled by Tyson and Grover, Malcolm punched me in the arm for making you worry, and Clarisse put me in a headlock. Typical day at camp."

Annabeth laughed. "Sounds like it."

"Actually," Percy took her hand, just because he could, "Clarisse told me I needed to make it up to you for disappearing for six months."

Annabeth looked stunned. "Clarisse said that?"

"She did. Apparently you were kind of worried about me."

"I was _very_ worried about you," Annabeth corrected. Then, teasingly, she asked, "So how are you going to make it up to me? Not that you have to, but—"

"Maybe I want to." Percy squeezed her hand. "Once things settle down here, I was thinking about a nice dinner and a movie in the city. And I promise you won't even have to fight a giant this time. At least, I really, really hope not."

Annabeth laughed again and kissed his cheek. "Sounds perfect."

After his girlfriend left to meet back up with Piper and Reyna, Percy wandered down to the lake. Eventually Tyson, then Jason, found him there, and they spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out. It felt a little weird not to be in the middle of things for once. Percy wondered if he should be insulted, but he also didn't totally mind stepping to the side for a minute and letting other people take charge. Maybe, he thought vaguely as he skipped a rock across the lake, he was improving, slightly, on his fatal flaw. Jason, sitting beside him, flicked his wrist and sent his own rock skittering over the water. After four skips, just before it sank beneath the surface, Percy felt a gust of wind rush past and the stone made it three more hops.

Percy narrowed his eyes at Jason, who was grinning. "Oh, so it's gonna be like that, Grace?"

They went back and forth like that for a while, seeing who could skip rocks the farthest, until Tyson, face scrunched up in concentration, tongue poking between his lips, flipped a small, flat stone with his Cyclops strength and it sped across the lake, bouncing all the way to the opposite shore.

"I think you win, big guy," Percy said, slapping him on the back as Tyson beamed.

"Yep," Jason agreed. He stood up and stretched, glanced at the sky, then pretended to be actually squinting at the sun. "I might try to find Piper before dinner."

"See you later, man," Percy said. He and Tyson stayed there for a few more minutes, just relaxing. It was nice.

But finally, Tyson rose and, blushing, muttered, "I will go find Ella. She was reading books. You will be okay?"

"Definitely. I'm good." Percy fist-bumped Tyson. "I'm home."

Since it still wasn't quite dinner time, Percy stayed sitting there on the dock, his feet dangling in the water, watching a couple of canoes racing across the lake. His gaze drifted to the trees on the opposite shore, and he thought about Manhattan waiting just across Long Island. He swallowed hard. _Just a couple more days. Once things settle down._

To distract himself, he started playing with the water, calling small waves and twisting them into random shapes. When he glanced down, a naiad waved up at him. Percy waved back, just to be friendly. A hand touched his shoulder and Annabeth said, "You know, you better be careful. Naiads are terrible flirts."

"So I've heard." Percy smiled as she sat down next to him. "Luckily, I've got an awesome girlfriend, so I'm invulnerable."

"Oh really?" Annabeth's eyes sparkled in the evening light.

"Yep." He leaned over and kissed her. Below them, the naiad blew out a stream of angry bubbles and swam off into the depths of the lake.

"Subtle," Annabeth said.

Percy shrugged. "They have short memories."

He went back to messing around with the water, making it rise up and form shapes, while Annabeth trailed her toes in the lake and gave him a rundown on what she, Piper, and Reyna had been working on during the day. It was the most relaxed he'd felt in months.

When the conch horn blew for dinner, Percy let the water fall back with a splash, then stood and held out a hand to help Annabeth to her feet. She took it and let him pull her up. Standing on the end of the dock holding hands, Percy was thinking about kissing her again when a stream of water shot up and hit him in the back. He jerked in surprise and Annabeth let go of his hand as she doubled over laughing. In the water below, Percy caught a glimpse of a smirking naiad swimming away.

"So much for short memories," he muttered as he willed his shirt dry.

Annabeth was still laughing, but she laced her fingers through his. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Let's go to dinner."

* * *

Later, at the amphitheater, Percy felt that sense of vertigo again, as if he was looking through a weirdly distorted mirror. It was great to see everyone getting along at the campfire, laughing and teasing and just having fun. Plus, he appreciated seeing Frank, Reyna, and Nico get some well-deserved cheers. But seeing the legion at Camp Half-Blood still felt strange. Not necessarily in a bad way, but the camps had been so clearly separated that it took some adjustment to see them as just one big group of demigods. But they were, so the fact that everyone was trying to work together now was great. It was also a little weird to see his friends from the Argo II around the campfire. He'd never actually seen Jason and Piper at camp before, and Hazel, Frank, and Reyna felt so strongly connected to his experiences at Camp Jupiter that he kept almost expecting them to disappear when he blinked.

Some things felt familiar, though, like the Apollo cabin leading goofy camp songs, the Ares campers shoving and jostling, and the members of Hermes cabin sneaking around stealing perfectly cooked marshmallows off people's sticks. Plus Annabeth sitting next to him. Every once in a while, she'd lean her head on his shoulder. That felt right.

As the night got later, campers began to drift away back to their cabins, or to the Roman camp. Eventually, the only ones left around the fire were Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank. They were quiet, morosely roasting a few last marshmallows and all trying to pretend like they hadn't been cutting glances at the sky all day. Finally, Annabeth sighed and admitted, "I keep thinking he's just going to swoop in."

"I know." Frank handed Hazel a perfectly browned marshmallow, then put another one on the stick for himself. "I mean, he did have the cure."

"Maybe he's already back," Percy said, offering a marshmallow to Annabeth. When she shook her head, he popped it in his mouth. "But he knows we all want to strangle him, so he's going to call and check in from, I don't know, Iowa or something. Just to be safe."

The others laughed at that. "That does kind of sound like Leo," Piper agreed.

"I hope so," Hazel said quietly.

"Same here." Jason tossed them each a marshmallow, then held it up. "I propose a toast."

"With marshmallows?" Percy asked.

Jason shrugged. "Why not?"

"That definitely sounds like a Valdez thing," Frank said.

"Good point," Percy agreed.

"To Leo," Piper said, holding up her marshmallow, and the others followed suit.

"To Leo."

Not too much longer after that, the rest of their friends headed to bed, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone by the fire. In the distance, he caught the faint screech of a harpy, but for once, he wasn't feeling too intimidated. The fire had burned most of the way down until it was just a red and orange glow shimmering over the embers, leaving the amphitheater comfortably darkened. A few sparks shot up and Percy was reminded uneasily of the Phlegethon. He suppressed a shudder at the memory of the fire burning his throat. To distract himself, he slipped his arm around Annabeth's waist. Her eyes had been narrowed, focused on the dying fire, but when he touched her, she turned to him with a small smile and asked, "Tired?"

"Not really."

She studied his face, then laid a hand lightly on his leg. "How are you doing?"

"Fine."

She gave him a look. "How are you really doing?"

Percy sighed. "Honestly? It's a little weird being back. It feels surreal."

Annabeth nodded. "Makes sense. You were gone for a long time. Lost your memory. Got dumped in a new camp. Then there was that six-week quest across Europe. Among…among other places."

"Not to mention the cabin full of wolves where I woke up and that super fun trip to Alaska." Percy grinned ruefully. "You know, when you put it like that, it's probably amazing I'm not just running around screaming."

"Well, if you think it'll help…"

He laughed and kissed her temple. "Maybe next week. I just got back, I don't really want everyone thinking I'm crazy."

Annabeth snuggled against his side. "Yeah, it's probably too soon to scare the new campers."

Her hair smelled faintly of smoke from the campfire. If he closed his eyes, Percy could picture the small ledge beside the glowing Phlegethon waterfall where they'd sat, perched high above the dark plains of Tartarus. But they weren't there anymore. They were back in the amphitheater, safe behind the barriers of Camp Half-Blood.

A harpy screeched again. Well, safe enough, anyway.

"Should we go before they show up?" Annabeth murmured.

"In a minute. I think we could handle some harpies."

"Okay."

They stayed that way a little longer, until Percy felt his eyelids beginning to droop. As the harpies' screeches grew closer, Annabeth sighed, then pushed herself away to sit up straight. "Percy, we probably really should go to our cabins."

"You're probably right." But he didn't stand up right away. Instead, he looked at his girlfriend. The faint firelight made her blonde hair glow. Her cheekbones were still a tad more prominent than normal, but her eyes were the same. Her eyes were always the same, even when they'd both been shrouded in Death Mist. _Gods, she's beautiful,_ he thought. Unable to help himself, he pulled her close and kissed her, fingers tangling in her hair. When Annabeth kissed him back, Percy experienced the wonderfully familiar sensation of his brain melting.

Not long after, he walked her back to her cabin. They managed to avoid the harpies, who sounded like they were scouting the arts and crafts cabin. Annabeth gave him a quick kiss when they stopped at her door. "See you in the morning?"

Percy squeezed her hand. "I'll be here."

"You'd better be." She was obviously teasing, but there was a tiny tremor in her voice when she said, "Because if I have to track your butt down again, Seaweed Brain—"

Percy pulled her in for another kiss. He hoped no one from the Athena cabin, or Athena herself, was paying attention, but he also didn't really care. "I'm not going anywhere. Promise."

"Good," Annabeth said a bit breathlessly. "Just checking."

After another quick good night kiss, because the harpies were starting to sound a lot closer, Percy crossed the green to his own cabin. Tyson's rumbling snores filled the air, but Percy couldn't help grinning as he kicked off his shoes, changed into his pajamas, and collapsed into his bunk. Above him, the Minotaur horn was back in its place on the wall. Riptide, in pen form, rested on his nightstand. The bronze sculptures of sea creatures that Tyson had made spun lazily on their strings, drifting in the sea breeze that blew through the open windows. Percy yawned, then burrowed under the covers.

It was good to be back.

**Author's Note:**

> ***Thanks for reading! If you’re looking for more, my story “Home” also talks about Percy returning to New York (with a Sally reunion and plenty of Percabeth fluff, of course). Have a good week, everyone!***


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